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Alternate File installs statistics

By will-wow · VS Code Marketplace · Other

Switch to and create spec files for any framework

View on VS Code Marketplace Fresh · Oct 20, 2026

Alternate File has 194,161 recorded installs on VS Code Marketplace, ranking #1556 of 2,501 tracked listings.

Installs
194,161
Official API · Oct 20, 2026
7-day growth
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Insufficient history
30-day growth
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Insufficient history
90-day growth
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Insufficient history
Rank
#1556
Among tracked VS Code Marketplace listings

Rating: 4.80 / 5 from 5 ratings

About Alternate File

vscode-alternate-file

Visual Studio Marketplace Version Build Status David Dependency Status

In Vim, you can often go to the "alternate file" for the active buffer - usually the spec file for an implementation, or vice versa - by pressing :A. This extension adds that functionality to VS Code.

VSCode-Alternate-File reads a config file based on the .projections.json file from Tim Pope's Projectionist. This lets you specify where the spec files for different types of files in your project are set up. One you add a .projections.json (and reload your editor), you can then jump between an implementation and spec file, and optionally create empty files if they don't exist.

Features

All commands are under the control pane. Or, you can set up shortcuts.

  • Initialize Projections File - Create a new .projections.json in the root of the current workspace. You can pass in the name of some frameworks to get reasonable projection defaults.
  • Alternate File - Switch to the alternate file (if found) in the current pane
  • Alternate File in Split - Switch to the alternate file (if found) in a split pane
  • Create Alternate File - Switch to the alternate file (if found) in the current pane. If not found, create the file.
  • Create Alternate File in Split - Switch to the alternate file (if found) in a split pane. If not found, create the file.

Alternate File Demo

.projections.json

To describe your project's layout, create a .projections.json in the root of your project.

Each line should have the pattern for an implementation file as the key, and an object with the pattern for the alternate file (usually the spec file, but it can be whatever you want). Use a * in the main pattern and a {} in the alternate pattern to note the part of the path that should be the same between the two files. A * can stand in for an arbitrarily deep path.

Split paths

If your test paths have an extra directly in the middle of them, like with app/some/path/__test__/file.test.js with Jest, you can use {dirname} for the directory path and {basename} for the filename. You can do the same thing on the implementation side with the standard glob syntax: ** to represent the directory path, and * to represent the filename, like app/**/something/*.js.

If your paths have more than two variable parts, that can work too! You can use multiple sets of **/{dirname} pairs, which allows you to do something like:

"apps/**/lib/**/*.ex": {
  "alternate": "apps/{dirname}/test/{dirname}/{basename}_test.exs"
}
Multiple alternates

If your project is inconsistent about where specs go (it happens to the best of us), you can also pass an array to alternate. The extension will look for a file matching the first alternate, then the second, and so on. When you create an alternate file, it will always follow the first pattern.

Note that this isn't part of the original projectionist spec, but it's sometimes handy.

Examples
{
  // Basic
  // app/foo/bar/file.js => app/foo/bar/file.spec.js
  "app/*.js": { "alternate": "app/{}.spec.js" },
  // Dirname/Basename
  // app/foo/bar/file.js => app/foo/bar/__test__/file.test.js
  "*.js": { "alternate": "{dirname}/__test__/{basename}.test.js" },
  // Globbed implementation:
  // app/foo/bar/js/file.js => test/foo/bar/file_test.js
  "app/**/js/*.js": { "alternate": "test/{}/_test.js" },
  // Multiple alternatives
  // app/foo/bar/file.jsx =>
  //   app/foo/bar/file.spec.jsx OR app/foo/bar/file.spec.js OR
  //   spec/js/foo/bar/file_spec.js
  "app/*.jsx": { "alternate": ["app/{}.spec.jsx", "app/{}.spec.js", "spec/js/{}_spec.js"] }
}

For .projections.json files for popular frameworks, see the sample-projections. If your framework isn't in there, PRs for new sample-projections are welcome!

Shortcuts

There aren't any shortcuts set up by default. If you'd like to add some shortcuts, you can put Open Keyboard Shortcuts File in the command pane and add something like the following:

{
  "key": "ctrl+alt+a",
  "command": "alternate.alternateFile",
  "when": "editorTextFocus"
}

The commands are:

alternate.alternateFile
alternate.alternateFileInSplit
alternate.createAlternateFile
alternate.createAlternateFileInSplit
VSCode-Vim support

If you use vscode-vim, it might be easier to add a leader-key shortcut, like the alternate file command from Spacemacs

{
  "vim.normalModeKeyBindingsNonRecursive": [
    {
      "before": ["<leader>", "p", "a"],
      "commands": [{ "command": "alternate.alternateFile" }]
    },
    {
      "before": ["<leader>", "p", "s"],
      "commands": [{ "command": "alternate.alternateFileInSplit" }]
    }
  ]
}

Unfortunately you don't seem to be able to add your own ex-commands to vscode-vim, so you can't set up :A.

Contributing

The core logic is implemented in alternate-file. Any changes to the matching and finding logic should go there.

To run a

Setup

Clone the repository, then…

Description from the VS Code Marketplace listing.

  • alternate
  • projectile
  • projections
  • spec
  • test
  • vscode

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Charts

Images: 30d · 1y · all time · 1600×900 dark

Adoption over time

Alternate File installs on VS Code Marketplace, last 90 days: 194,161 installs as of Oct 20, 2026.Alternate FileInstalls on VS Code Marketplace · Last 90 days194,161installs194K194K194K194.1K194.1K194.1K194.1K194.1K194.2K194.2KJul 22Aug 6Aug 21Sep 5Sep 20Oct 5Oct 20installsobservedarchived (Internet Archive)no observationsOct 16, 2026 – Oct 20, 2026 · 5 observations · Updated Oct…pluginstats.com
Alternate File installs on VS Code Marketplace, last 90 days: 194,161 installs as of Oct 20, 2026.

7/30/90-day growth

Alternate File installs growth on VS Code Marketplace: 7-day growth unavailable, 30-day growth unavailable, 90-day growth unavailable.Alternate FileInstalls growth on VS Code Marketplace194,161installs now7-day growthinsufficient historyInsufficient history30-day growthinsufficient historyInsufficient history90-day growthinsufficient historyInsufficient historyGrowth vs. nearest observation to each baseline date · Updated Oct 20, 2026pluginstats.com
Alternate File installs growth on VS Code Marketplace: 7-day growth unavailable, 30-day growth unavailable, 90-day growth unavailable.

Ranking history

Alternate File VS Code Marketplace ranking history: currently #1556 (by installs).Alternate FileVS Code Marketplace ranking · by installs · Last 90 days#1556current rank#1554#1555#1556#1557#1558Jul 22Aug 6Aug 21Sep 5Sep 20Oct 5Oct 20rankOct 16, 2026 – Oct 20, 2026 · 5 observations · Updated Oct 20, 2026pluginstats.com
Alternate File VS Code Marketplace ranking history: currently #1556 (by installs).

Ratings over time

Alternate File ratings on VS Code Marketplace, last 90 days: 5 ratings as of Oct 20, 2026.Alternate FileRatings on VS Code Marketplace · Last 90 days5ratings4.44.64.855.25.45.6Jul 22Aug 6Aug 21Sep 5Sep 20Oct 5Oct 20ratingsobservedarchived (Internet Archive)no observationsOct 16, 2026 – Oct 20, 2026 · 5 observations · Updated Oct…pluginstats.com
Alternate File ratings on VS Code Marketplace, last 90 days: 5 ratings as of Oct 20, 2026.

Listing placement

All VS Code Marketplace2,501 listings · 126 pages · 1,252 shown · page 78, #16 (overall #1,556)
All VS Code Marketplace: every listing in installs order

Listing placement

Other761 listings · 39 pages · page 23, #20 (overall #460)
Other: every listing in installs order

Filled points are observed values; hollow points come from Internet Archive snapshots of the listing page. Dashed segments span periods with no observations — values between points are not interpolated.

Each band is one page of 20. Installs on a linear scale. Placement is projected from installs, so it can differ from the marketplace's own sort order. Hover a dot to see the listing.

Recent observations

Full history (5)
Recent installs observations for Alternate File
Date (UTC)InstallsChange vs. previous
194,161+73
194,088+1
194,087+5
194,082+70
194,012—

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Data source

Install counts, average rating, and rating counts come from the public Visual Studio Marketplace gallery API. Installs are cumulative and exclude updates.

Listing: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=will-wow.vscode-alternate-file. First seen Oct 16, 2026; last successful collection Oct 20, 2026. See the methodology.